I’ve loved art for as long as I can remember. I was born in the 60s and one of my earliest influences was watching Paint Along With Nancy on TV. Nancy Kominsky taught me, and countless others, how to mix colours, grid a face and find balance in a composition, all from the comfort of the living room. That was the start. I wan’t a huge pan of her knife painting though.

My great-grandmother, Ellen Fellows, painted, and we’re lucky to still have some of her pieces in the family. They’re a lasting reminder that creativity can run deep and stay with you.

I grew up in Manchester, then moved to Paris in my early twenties. Although I worked in Communications and HR, I couldn’t ignore the pull of the creative world around me. I joined weekly classes at Les Ateliers Beaux-Arts and kept at it for several years, along with Italian lessons, finding inspiration everywhere from the amazing galleris and museums in Paris to the street art.

In 2009, I relocated to Athens. That’s where things really opened up. At εργαστήρι ζωγραφικής, I explored collage, life drawing, charcoal, pastels and acrylics. Some of my most emotionally layered pieces were made during that time. The tutor Dimitris mixed solid technique with talks on art history and gave us space to grow. I exhibited twice with the group.

After returning to Manchester in 2015, I took a break from art. My heart just wasn’t in it. But, a course on Illustrated Life Journals by Kate Sutton helped me reconnect, through a daily creative practice that was both grounding and honestly really great at getting me back ‘in the flow’.

During Covid, when the world went online, I joined an extraordinary Art Therapy group for older women, led by Renata Chubb. It’s based in Canada but quickly became global, with members from India, Malaysia, the US, Europe and Australia. We’re still going strong today, supporting one another through whatever life brings, and finding space to reflect and create together.

Discovering Procreate on the iPad added something completely new. It opened up a fresh way of working, and in September 2023, I started a Facebook group for Procreate artists. It’s now home to over 6,500 members from around the world.

More recently, I’ve taken courses on Procreate, Digital Graphic Design, Book Illustration and Japanese Sumi-e Art (both on line and in person).

Finally, my most recent venture has been to co-found Creative Bubbles By The Randoms with longtime friend and colleague, Natasha. You can read more about Creative Bubbles in my recent post Illustrating Stillness, or visit our new website.

I hope my work makes you feel welcome and inspired. You can follow my journey on Instagram or explore more here.